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Wearrative was started by Lisa and Chris Moore in Denver, Colorado in early 2017 after 25+ years in cancer diagnostics and regenerative medicine. It has been an incredible experience, and although our mission is to help others share the power of story, it didn't seem right not to share our story as well. We apologize ahead of time for the rambling, spelling errors and bad grammar. After all, it's sometimes the imperfections that make story great. Subscribe here to be notified of the latest and greatest from Wearrative.

1 in 16 benefit from you reading this

Let me tell you a story,

Today we launched a very special new product - the HOPE storyband. Before you go check it out, I want to tell you a story about a long thread of friendship, the love of family and finding proteins.

High school and I agreed to disagree. There were hundreds of reasons why I didn’t like high school (don’t worry, College was my BFF), but there were a few great High School memories that will always stay with me. One, the best man at my wedding who I went to highschool with. He is a class act who I always try to emulate in becoming a father and gentleman. Two, always seeming to be on just the safe side of the law during Summer breaks. I got too close to that line too many times, but someone was always looking out for me. Last, my friend Amanda. We met my sophomore year and have been friends ever since. You can tell the quality of friends by how deep that friendship impacts your families. I adored Amanda’s family and spent way too many nights drinking with her brother when I moved to Chicago. My family felt the same about Amanda and one summer she actually worked with my mom. Those are great friendships.

This year Amanda was diagnosed with ALK+ lung cancer. Check out her story here. This past Spring my family and hers got together in Tennessee. It was the first time we met each other's family. And you know what - they are perfect in every way and our families got along so well from the start. Her daughters taught our boys how to have a puppet show. Seriously - perfect.

Now hold that thought and I am going to take you back about 6 years when I worked at a company called Roche Tissue Diagnostics. While there, my team was challenged to invent a new chemistry that would help doctors see certain rare proteins in biopsies. We broke the code on the invention and its performance was incredible. We knew it would change the way doctors would be able to diagnose cancers. By being able to see the proteins the drugs target, you could better ensure a benefit. Fast forward 4 years and that chemistry is being use to diagnose ALK+ lung cancer.

My close friend has the cancer that I spent 2 years helping doctors see. Need more proof that we are all directed by a higher power… there you go! Thus, when we found out about her diagnosis we have always wanted to help raise money for the LUNGevity organization they work with.

I spent some time learning from LUNGevity about lung cancer - and that is where the numbers above come from. 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer. Lung cancer represents 26% of cancer deaths. Lung cancer gets only 6% of federal research dollars. Lung cancer takes more lives annually in the U.S. than the next three leading cancers combined.

Now, I don’t want this to be about lung cancer deaths but about the need for more research dollars to answer the questions patients, families and doctors have about the disease. To help that cause, today we launched the HOPE storyband. Ok, Go check it out here!! 30% of the proceeds from the band go to the ALK+ research fund within LUNGevity.

Would you do two things for me? One, If you love this band, please consider buying one to help LUNGevity. Two, and more importantly, if you know someone with lung cancer, share the stories on our page and direct them to LUNGevity for help. That help could be emotional support or it could be ensuring you get the correct diagnosis. Whatever it is, this is how you can help a loved one with a lung cancer diagnosis - make sure they know where to go to get answers they need or even to find the questions they don’t know to ask.

From a guy who has lost too many family members to cancer, including my father, I have learned you must be your best advocate. Andy and Leslie say it perfectly in this article. The problem is that when your heart and mind are full of the fog of a cancer diagnosis that is exactly when you need them at their best. LUNGevity and the stories from people like Amanda and Andy can help you find the clearing.

My two asks:Consider helping me raise money for LUNGevity.Help those around you with lung cancer find LUNGevity.